Russian Army

The Russian Army is the armed forces of the Russian Federation, founded officially in 1721. They have consisted of 940,000 regulars and 246,000 Cossack irregulars at its height in 1850.

History
Peter the Great is considered to be the first innovator of the Russian armed forces. His reforms turned a force of militiamen who had outdated weapons (few even had firearms) into a professional standing army consisting of both Cossacks and regular soldiers. The Russians tested this army during the Great Northern War of the early 1700s, and used it to defeat the combined forces of the Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of Sweden. They would later be put to the test in the Seven Years' War of the 1750s, and won over Frederick the Great at several battles such as Kunersdorf in 1760.

It came as a surprise to the known world that Catherine the Great, a woman, was one of the most successful military leaders of Russia. In the 1770s-1790s she conquered Poland and defeated the Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of Sweden many times. She was assisted by John Paul Jones and other foreign volunteers in her successful wars of conquest.